Zenith job cuts in Le Locle: LVMH watchmaker bets on haute horlogerie

The home of the El Primero is changing course. Zenith has confirmed a strategic repositioning project together with a staff consultation in Le Locle, in the canton of Neuchâtel, without publishing figures or a detailed timetable. The project sums up the dilemma of Swiss watchmaking in 2026: the very top end holds up, the mid-range suffers.

A consultation opens in Le Locle

Management presented the project to staff on Thursday 22 October 2026. A collective redundancy consultation, lasting three weeks according to several sources, has opened with the social partners; Zenith will not give any details before this procedure ends. The house says it is looking for solutions within the LVMH group for some of the employees affected. After-sales service and the supply of movements to other group houses would remain in Le Locle.

How many jobs are affected?

No official figure has been released. According to several estimates, around 100 of the manufacture’s 196 jobs would be cut, roughly half the workforce, plus around 100 more in the international distribution and boutique network. The total could therefore reach 200 jobs, a number that may change once the consultation ends.

1865, El Primero and 2,333 chronometry prizes

Founded in Le Locle in 1865 by Georges Favre-Jacot, whose initials G.F.J. still adorn the façade of the manufacture, Zenith claims 600 movement variations, 300 patents and 18 buildings on its site. Its El Primero, presented in 1969, is described by LVMH as the first self-winding chronograph, accurate to a tenth of a second. The house counts 2,333 chronometry prizes, most of them won by its calibre 135.

Fewer watches, more haute horlogerie

The project, led by Zenith CEO Benoit de Clerck, aims for a leaner house: lower volumes, higher prices and finer finishing, with a 2029 horizon according to several sources. In front of staff, management cited the strong franc, US tariffs and falling sales in Asia and the Middle East. The bet is to leave a mid-market segment seen as weakened for the long term and join the narrower circle of haute horlogerie, where a house’s heritage counts for more than volume.

An LVMH division driven by jewellery

At LVMH, the Watches and Jewelry division posted sales of 7,725 million euros in the first nine months of 2026, against 7,409 million a year earlier, up 4% on a reported basis and 8% organically. The 12 October release credits this growth first to jewellery, with Tiffany & Co., Bvlgari and Chaumet; in watchmaking, it only mentions TAG Heuer. For the wider picture, see our analysis of the luxury market in the third quarter of 2026.

Swiss exports: up 11.7% in September

According to the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry (FH), exports reached 2,225.9 million francs in September 2026, up 11.7%, and 19.5 billion francs over nine months (+2.7%). Watches with an export price above 3,000 francs grew by 9.9%, models under 500 francs by 39.5%. The United States jumped 85.7% thanks to a base effect, while China (-14.2%), the United Kingdom (-5.2%), Singapore (-8.3%) and the United Arab Emirates (-9.0%) fell. The FH points out that these aggregate figures do not reflect the performance of any individual company.

At the top of the pyramid, records are set at auction: see the world’s most expensive watches and the Geneva watch sales in November 2026.

Information checked on 31 October 2026. Sources: LVMH group’s Zenith page, LVMH release of 12 October 2026, Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry FH, September 2026.